How Will I know
by baneling
Summary: Caroline decides she wants to broaden her horizons, and ropes in Stefan to help her do so. Starts at the end 5x12, some events will change, but mainly will follow the timeline.


**Disclaimer: I do not own vampire diaries or any of it's characters.**

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After leaving the party, she found herself at the boarding house, and eventually that's where Stefan found her – sitting by the fireplace just lost in her thoughts. He couldn't help but worry about her after the encounter with Tyler over her apparent discretion with Klaus, something that Stefan had been completely unaware about. As they sat across from each other and talked, laughter eventually entering the conversation, Caroline had to admit she was grateful that she had chosen to go there. That she had chosen to speak to Stefan. Their friendship had blossomed more since her transition into a vampire. When he had told her she was so good at it, she could only tell him the truth: that it was because of him.

The fire continued to fill the boarding house with a faint light, and Caroline found herself once again lost in her thoughts. Replaying the events that had taken place earlier. Would Tyler have actually hurt her if Stefan hadn't come in? His reaction had hurt, but could she blame him? Then again, he had left more than once and she was trying to move on with her life. Not that she was trying to move on with Klaus, but it was her life and she could do what she wanted. She pulled her gaze away from the fire and looked towards Stefan, a small smile on her face.

"I'm sorry he acted that way" he told her softly, even if Tyler had been drunk, that was no excuse for the fact he could have hurt Caroline. That he could have killed her. Stefan found himself unable from holding back from punching the guy in the jaw once she had left the room.

She nodded her head, not wanting to dwell on what had happened. Instead, she looked at him for a few moments, a thin smiling appearing on her lips, "You're old."

His eyes widened at the sudden change of subject, one that he had not been expecting, but was slightly amused about although confused as well, "Uh- yes? I don't know where that came from, Caroline."

Shaking her head, she leaned forward in her seat and brought her hands together, "You've been alive for 160 something years, or something like that. You've seen and done so much, and while I know not all of it is something you want to remember- it's still something." She pursed her lips and sighed, "I am just starting my forever, and I realize there is so much I haven't done. Books I haven't read, movies I haven't seen, things I haven't learned, places I haven't traveled."

"You have an eternity to do all of that, Caroline," he told her as he tilted his head and watched her.

She shook her head, "But do I Stefan? We're always facing some big bad or another, and I don't know I just don't know why I should keep waiting. Does that make sense?"

Straightening up and moving forward, he reached over and placed his hand on hers and gave it a squeeze, "It does."

"I want to start living for myself. No boys, no drama, just me," She told him with a 100 watt smile. Sure, she knew that things weren't always going to be great, and that being a vampire meant that trouble tended to be right around the corner. However, Caroline wanted to start doing things, and there was absolutely no reason she couldn't start now, "I mean I want to watch every single Elvis Presley movie, and I want to read every single book Jane Austen wrote aside from Pride and Prejudice, and- I want to learn how to cook amazing dishes!" She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment and then started to nod, "I want to see the Eiffel Tower."

Stefan let out a laugh and shook his head, Caroline was probably one of the few people who really could make him laugh. She really had a way of reminding him of Lexi, and he knew that if Lexi had still been alive that her and Caroline would be the best of friends, "I'd probably start off with something simple first."

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to think of something to do first, something that she would do right now with Stefan there with her, "How about-," she paused as she swayed her head side to side, "Maybe. Hm. Have you ever seen The Lost Boys? I haven't and I kind of want to?" she shook her head and let out a laugh, "I mean I know it's silly since we are _actually_ vampires, but like I mean I admit that I read Twilight and stuff-."

Without a word Stefan rose to his feet, and held out his hand for Caroline to take, and once she did he pulled her to her feet, "Let's go watch The Lost Boys, and I hope you will one day accept that Twilight is pretty much garbage."

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As the end credits began to roll for the movie, Caroline immediately turned towards Stefan. She had done her best to stay quiet during the movie, even though she wanted to say so many things, but figured she could leave it until the end. Although there had been a couple times she had began to say something and Stefan had put his finger to her lips to quiet her, "It wasn't all that bad! I mean it had some cheesy moments, but it was fun. Completely wrong about holy water, but that's only makes it a little more amusing." Licking her lips, she added with a smile, "I kind of think you may be like Sam."

Stefan raised his eyebrow and looked towards her at this statement. He couldn't help but smile as he spoke, "Well, my brother is in fact a damn bloodsucking vampire, but Sam him wasn't a vampire."

"True, and really Damon is very much like David. Kind of an asshole and everything," she shrugged her shoulders and chewed on her bottom lip, "I guess you're like Michael. Maybe _I'm_ Sam?" she giggled at the suggestion and playfully patted him on the arm before adding, "And Elena is obviously Starr." Before Stefan could say anything, Caroline was asking him a question, "So did you actually see this in the movies? I mean you were- exactly as you are now."

"Well," he shook his head and smirked, "I wasn't _exactly_ the same, I mean I was to a point, but I was living in the 80's? I don't know."

"80's Stefan!" Caroline couldn't help but start giggling as she tried to imagine what Stefan looked like in the 80's, "Oh my god! Do you have pictures? What did your hair look like? Did you dress like Vanilla Ice? Wait, was he the 80's or the 90's?"

Deciding to completely avoid any of her questions, he grabbed the remote and turned off the movie, "Okay, what next? If you want you can look through the books to see if there is anything you want to read?"

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Caroline and Stefan spent the next couple of hours scrounging through books. Caroline decided to make a list of things that she found that she would like to read, deciding that she'd make the Salvatore book collection her own personal library. However, she wasn't entirely sure what to start with , "Hmm," she ran her fingers along the books, noticing how old some of them were, probably some as old as Stefan, "I don't know where to start."

Stefan looked up from the book in his hand and focused his attention on Caroline, she was like a curious child and that brought a smile to his face. Then again, if he was honest with himself, Caroline often had the ability to bring a smile to his face, "Well, I _could_ make a suggestion, but I'm not entirely sure what you are in the mood to read. Do you want romance? Drama? Suspense? Maybe horror?"

Turning towards him, Caroline tried to think about it. She had written down all those books, but maybe she'd start with a suggestion from Stefan, "I don't know honestly. Surprise me?"

Closing the book and putting it down, he made his way over to a shelf and looked upon he found what he was looking for. "Since we just watched The Lost Boys, and although it was definitely very 80's, maybe something along those lines?" Walking over to her, he held out an old copy of a book for her, "Unless you've read it already, but then again you did just admit you read Twilight so-,"

Rolling her eyes, Caroline took the book and looked at the title, "Dracula." While Caroline may have never actually read Dracula, she knew that many of the vampire stories today derived from it and had basic knowledge of the story, "Will I like it?"

"That's something you're going to have to figure out for yourself," he crossed his arms and watched as she opened the pages and scanned through them, "I was around 50 when that book came out. It obviously wasn't the first vampire story, but it probably held the biggest impact on what came after regarding entertainment. Although, we can't say that everything that came after was as good."

"Is that another dig at the fact I read Twilight?"

He couldn't help but smirk and pull his bottom lip into his mouth, "Maybe."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes before allowing herself to smile, "Hey, do you mind if I stay here tonight? I didn't realize how tired I was, and I just kind of feel like crawling in bed and going to sleep."

Stefan moved out of the way and motioned towards the exit of the room, "Pick any of the spare bedrooms you want." Taking a step towards her, he lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight Caroline."

"Goodnight Stefan."

* * *

So sleep hadn't actually happened right away. Sure, that had been the plan, but as she settled into the guest room, she found herself cracking open the cover of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Her plan was to only read a couple pages, but then next thing she knew it had been two hours later and she was still emerged in the words on the page. However, she forced herself to give up and get some sleep, but apparently it wasn't long enough because the next time she knew it was morning.

She wondered if anyone would blame her if she just chose to stay in bed all day? Would Stefan really mind? She couldn't exactly say she was sick or anything since she was a vampire, but she could tell him she just felt extremely lazy. However, even though she could have totally been okay with more sleep, she found herself grabbing the book and opening it again.

That's how Stefan found her an hour later, when he knocked on the door and peeked his head in, "Hey, I come baring gifts." Slipping into the room, he held up a cup of what she knew was blood rather than coffee, and it was definitely something she wanted.

Turning over, she turned the book down towards the mattress so she wouldn't lose her place, "It's like you read my mind."

Handing the mug over, he sat down on the edge of the bed and reached over to snatch the book, "So you already started it?"

After taking a gulp from her mug, she nodded her head, "I actually ended up starting it last night, and couldn't put it down. It's different- like just the writing style alone."

Nodding his head, he kept his finger where she was, while he looked through the rest of the book, "I have to admit, I haven't read this in years. Although I have read it a few times."

"Have you read _every_ book more than once?" given how long he had been alive, Caroline wouldn't be surprised if he had been.

"Well, not _every_ book, but I've actually read a lot more than once," he turned his body towards her and put the book back down onto the mattress, "I'll make a confession-," he paused for a moment, a small smirk on his face, "I didn't actually expect you to get that far in the book."

"Hey!" Caroline playfully swatted him on the arm, "I like to read! I just don't always find things that interest me, but I figured now there's no harm in trying to read every book ever written."

Raising his eyebrow, Stefan just chuckled, "Caroline, I don't even think I've read every book every written."

"Never too late to start," smiling into her mug, she looked at him for a couple minutes before speaking, "So what movie are you going to watch with me today?"

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 **A/N:** This is a random idea I had come up with and just let the words flow! I'd love to continue it if anyone is interested in. It is canon up until 5x12, and while mostly everything will stay the same, there will definitely be some changes. Read & Review!


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